Tuesday, 8 July 2014

The details of this tale may be brutal, but Brassens
has written a haunting song. When the
client of a prostitute refuses to pay the reasonable price that her youth and
beauty merited and her minder comes to intervene, we can expect things to get
very nasty. In spite of the violence,
this is a song of great pathos and many performers of Brassens’ music include “L’Assassinat”
in their repertoire.

L'assassinat -

C'est pas
seulement à Paris

Que le crime
fleurit,

Nous, au
village, aussi, l'on a

De beaux
assassinats.

Il avait la tête
chenu’ (2)

Et le coeur
ingénu,

Il eut un retour
de printemps

Pour une de
vingt ans.

Mais la chair
fraîch’, la tendre chair,

Mon vieux, ça
coûte cher.

Au bout de cinq
à six baisers,

Son or fut
épuisé.

Quand sa menotte
elle a tendu’(3),

Triste, il a
répondu

Qu'il était
pauvre comme Job.

Elle a remis sa
rob’.

Elle alla quérir
son coquin(4)

Qui avait
l'appât du gain(5).

Sont revenus
chez le grigou(6)

Faire un bien
mauvais coup(7).

Et pendant qu'il
le lui tenait,

Elle
l'assassinait.

On dit que,
quand il expira,

La langue ell'
lui montra.

Mirent tout sens
dessus dessous,

Trouvèrent pas
un sou,

Mais des lettres
de créanciers,

Mais des saisi’s
d'huissiers.

Alors, prise d'un
vrai remords,

Elle eut chagrin
du mort

Et, sur lui,
tombant à genoux,

Ell' dit :
"Pardonne-nous !"

Quand les
gendarm's sont arrivés,

En pleurs ils
l'ont trouvé’(8).

C'est une larme
au fond des yeux

Qui lui valut
les cieux.

Et le matin
qu'on la pendit,

Ell' fut en
paradis.

Certains dévots,
depuis ce temps

Sont un peu
mécontents.(9)

C'est pas
seulement à Paris

Que le crime
fleurit,

Nous, au
village, aussi, l'on a

De beaux
assassinats.

It is not in
Paris alone

That serious
crime(1) is rife

We in the
country too, we have

Fine cases of
murder.

His hair was
white with his years

His heart was
innocent

He felt a
revival of spring

For a girl of
twenty.

But flesh that’s
fresh, flesh that’s tender,

Old chap, that’s
expensive

After just five
or six kisses

His cash had all
run out.

When she
proffered her tiny hand

Sadly he had to reply

That he was poor
as Job.

She put back on
her dress.

She went off to
get her minder

To whom money was
the sole aim

They came back
to the skinflint’s home

To do a wicked
deed.

Whilst he was
holding him for her

She murdered the
man.

People say that
say when he expired,

She put out her
tongue at him.

They turned the
place upside down

And found not a sou,

But some letters
from creditors,

Some baliffs’
seizure lists.

And then,
gripped by sincere remorse,

She felt grief
for the dead

And fell to her
knees over him

Pleading for
forgiveness.

When the
policemen arrived there,

Lost in tears
they found her.

'Twas one tear
deep down in her eyes

Which earned her
place in heaven.

And the morning
when they hanged her

To paradise she
went.

Some religious
folk ever since

Have been
somewhat displeased.

It is not in
Paris alone

That serious
crime(1) is rife

We in the
country too, we have

Fine cases of
murder.

TRANSLATION NOTES

1) serious crime- I am adding an adjective to give a 6 syllable
line as in the French.

2) Chenu – ayant la tête chenue means having
a head of hair white with age

3) Sa menotte elle a tendue – The most usual
meaning of « La menotte” is the handcuffs.
However in informal talk, for instance to children it has the meaning of
“hand”. In English an informal word for
hand is sometimes “mitt”- e.g. “See if you can get your mitts on a smart pair
of trousers for me.” “Paw” also is
sometimes used.

4) Son coquin – « Coquin » as a noun or an
adjective describes some-one who is vile, without honour or honesty. It is
therefore a term used as insult. The
term can imply sexual immorality: “la
coquine” means the loose woman, the whore and “le coquin” -the “vile” man who,
in this story, would be the girl’s pimp.

8) En pleurs ils l'ont trouvée – The girl’s
recognition of her evil deed and her total remorse is totally conveyed by her
behaviour. She did not seek to escape
but accepted her inevitable fate as though her life had no more meaning.

9) Certains dévots, depuis ce temps sont un
peu mécontents. - Some commentators have
said that the only villain in this tale is the girl’s pimp – the girl was
redeemed by her repentance, and her client was an innocent man, in desperate
straits, who genuinely failed to calculate the price that his pleasures were
incurring. These final lines, however,
mention two further guilty parties traditional in the songs of the Anarchist,
Georges Brassens, for their violation of natural justice: the Church and the
State:

The Church

Although
repentance and forgiveness followed by salvation were among the prime teachings
of Christianity, Church authorities took it upon themselves to decree upon whom
God granted this mercy. Brassens strongly, disapproves, that some devout people
still refused to forgive the poor girl, who had sincerely repented.

The State legal
system

Brassens was no
friend of the lawyers and his greatest reproach against them was their use
of the ultimate penalty of capital punishment (see Le Gorille). The hanging of this 20
year old girl shocks us.

There is a very atmospheric recording of this song by the contemporary French singer Francart and it has excellent subtitles

A comment after the post on YouTube expressed the admiration for Francart that I feel as well:

This song is brilliant because it is so impacting in its human story. Francart's voice carries the emotion and the simple guitar accompaniment allows the lyrics to take hold with its underscoring of them. The story doesn't just go away when the song ends. I still hear his playing and his voice and the tragedy of the story still resonates.